I was just going through our receipts from our last trip, and thought I could add some examples of our spending to this post. We usually stay at Old Key West or BWV, so we have at least a "kitchenette"(Microwave,toaster, coffee maker,small fridge, and small sink). Our last trip we had 3 studios,3 women with 7 kids between us(and 4 were mine!) We always had breakfast in the room(pop-tarts, cereal, instant grits and oatmeal), and lunch in the parks. Dinner was a combination: we arrived late afternoon on the only day MK had both fireworks and Spectromagic, so we had dinner at Tony's Town Square(@ $60 for 1 adult and 4 kids). For dinner the next night, we ordered 2 large pizzas at pizza hut(@$22) and a large salad at Olive Garden($14) right outside of Downtown Disney on Palm Parkway. This was plenty for all 10 of us, but if it was just myself and the kids, we would have done 2 medium pizzas for @$5 less. The other 3 nights, we ended up eating dinner in the room using food we had brought from home. I made spaghetti in a small slow cooker in the room 1 night, and used Prego sauce out of a jar for a few of us. My teens preferred the Ragu Express, and my young nephews ate the left-over pizza. We added some lettuce and tomatoes to what was left of the salad as well as some fruit. We had lunch at Teppanyaki on our Epcot day, like we do each trip, for $55 for 4 kids,1 adult, with the mandatory 15% gratuity for large parties. One day we ate at Beaches and Cream for lunch using 2 Connections vouchers($22) between the 5 of us, and adding a kid's hot dog,salad, and bowl of chili for @$21(I sure miss the days when the salad and chili were included with the vouchers). Needless to say, dinner was light that evening: I heated up 2 cans of soup in the slow cooker, and made a few ham and cheese sandwiches for the 5 of us. The next day we did the AK meal deal(2 adults and 3 children vouchers were $45). On the last night, I ate a salad in the room while my older 2 had Ragu Express, and the younger 2 had some vegetables from the take-out window by the pool while swimming(@$6). Lunch on the last day was at Pinncchio's at MK for @$32 for 5 people(3 hamburger combos, 2 salads, order of cheese fries, and a large coke) While picking up the pizza and salad we stopped at the new Winn Dixie for drinks and bottled water that SIL forgot to bring. We found their prices to be as reasonable as the Winn Dixie I shop at regularly, but I usually buy an extra box of pop-tarts, cereal, Ragu Express, etc. a week beginning 6-8 weeks before our trip to "spread" the cost of the food out a little bit. For this 5-day trip, I estimate the cost of the drinks, water, breakfast and dinner foods to be @$40. Adding that to what we spent eating out of the room, and the $20 we spent at McDonald's on the way down(we drove) and the Boardwalk bakery stop leaving Epcot($10), the total was less than $350 for 5 days. I budgeted $75 per day, not counting the food we took with us, and we spent less than that. We found on another trip that waiting in line for dinner was not good with my youngest DD, so dinners in the room work best for us most nights. Some people with young children who nap find that lunch in the room works best for them. My rule is: it can't take longer to prepare than it would take us to eat out, so I keep it simple. If my husband had accompanied us, we would have had a 2-bedroom unit with a full kitchen, but I would still have made simple meals. Sorry such a long post...I hope it helps someone!
